The Effects of Racial Capitalism on Poor White Laborers

While always remembering that racial capitalism’s very nature ensures that non-white Americans suffer incomparable racial oppression, this paper will endeavor to expose the devastation caused to American society as a whole by explaining the ways in which racial capitalism destroyed poor white labors ability to participate fully in the economic system and strangled its chances of living the American dream. It is my hope that by discussing the missing piece of the poor white laborers’ experience under racial capitalism will unite poor white laborers and poor black laborers to work together to end racial capitalism, policing, and the carceral system. Together, the poor laboring class of America can overthrow the current divisive, racialized system and construct new social, economic, and juridical systems based on communal restorative practices

Problematisation and regulation: bodies, risk, and recovery within the context of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Background Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is an anticipated effect of maternal drug use during pregnancy. Yet it remains a contested area of policy and practice. In this paper, we contribute to ongoing debates about the way NAS is understood and responded to, through different treatment regimes, or logics of care. Our analysis examines the role of risk and recovery discourses, and the way in which the bodies of women and babies are conceptualised within these. Methods Qualitative interviews with 16 parents (9 mothers, 7 fathers) and four focus groups with 27 health and social care professionals based in Scotland. All the mothers were prescribed opioid replacement therapy and parents were interviewed after their baby was born. Data collection explored understandings about the causes and consequences of NAS and experiences of preparing for, and caring for, a baby with NAS. Data were analysed using a narrative and discursive approach. Results Parent and professional accounts simultaneously upheld and subverted logics of care which govern maternal drug use and the assessment and care of mother and baby. Despite acknowledging the unpredictability of NAS symptoms and the inability of the women who are opioid-dependent to prevent NAS, logics of care centred on ‘proving’ risk and recovery. Strategies appealed to the need for caution, intervening and control, and obscured alternative logics of care that focus on improving support for mother-infant dyads and the family as a whole. Conclusion Differing notions of risk and recovery that govern maternal drug use, child welfare and family life both compel and trouble all logics of care. The contentious nature of NAS reflects wider socio-political and moral agendas that ultimately have little to do with meeting the needs of mothers and babies. Fundamental changes in the principles, quality and delivery of care could improve outcomes for families affected by NAS

Parents and substance use. Editorial Essay, special themed collection

First paragraph: Parents who use substances are the focus of governmental concern and moral opprobrium internationally, and their children are specifically targeted for social services intervention. Policies that inform practice for parents who use substances are complex and contradictory. There is widespread concern regarding the impact of parental substance use on the welfare of children, but little scientific/clinical consensus regarding what aspects of substance use represent risk or harm to children. This is despite an increasing emphasis on evidence-based policy and practice. Similarly, there is wide variability in how far poverty, poor housing or domestic violence are understood to mediate in child welfare outcomes in families with multiple and complex needs.Output Type: Editoria

Parenting support for mothers and fathers with a drug problem: issues and challenges for parents and healthcare professionals

This briefing was based on findings from a two year longitudinal qualitative study funded by the NHS Lothian Health Services Research Unit.The situation in Scotland - Addressing the needs of children and families affected by parental substance misuse (alcohol and drugs) is a priority for policy and practice (Scottish Government, 2013). The number of adults dependent on opiods and/or benzodiazephines has increased in recent years, and it is estimated that up to 60,000 children in Scotland are affected by a parent's drug use. Policy initiatives emphasise the importance of early intervention alongside evidence-based parenting interventions and recovery-orientated substance misuse treatment (ACDM, 2003; Scottish Government, 2008; Scottish Government, 2012)

Transport and Reaction Processes in Soil

In order to register agrochemicals in Europe it is necessary to have a detailed understanding of the processes in the environment that break down agrochemicals. The existing framework for environmental assessment includes a consideration of soil water movement and microbial breakdown of products in soil and these processes are relatively understood and represented in models. However the breakdown of agrochemicals by the action of light incident on the soil surface by a process termed photolysis is not so well represented in models of environmental fate. The problem brought by Syngenta (one of the worlds leading agrochemical companies) to the workshop was how to include the effects of light degradation of chemicals into predictive models of environmental fate. Photolysis is known to occur in a very thin layer at the surface of soil. The workshop was asked to consider how the very rough nature of the upper surface of a ploughed field might affect the degradation of chemicals by sunlight. The discussions were directed down two avenues: - firstly to determine how the very small distances over which photolysis occurs might be adequately incorporated into models of transport in soils and, - secondly to consider how the rough surface might modify the illumination of the surface and hence alter degradation. The rate of degradation by photolysis is measured in the laboratory by illuminating a thin, typically about 1 or 2 mm, layer of soil with very strong xenon lamps. The amount of chemical is measured at various intervals and is fitted to a first-order process. Field experiments where the chemical is sprayed on a bare field show evidence of photolysis indicated by biphasic degradation patterns and the presence of breakdown products only formed by photolysis. This report addresses methods for mathematically modelling the action of photolysis on particular relevant chemical species. We start with a general discussion of mechanisms that transport chemicals within soil §2. There is an existing computational model exploited by Syngenta for such modelling and we discuss how this performs and the predictions that can be derived using it §3. The particular mechanism of photolysis is then considered. One aspect of this mechanism that is investigated is how the roughness of the surface of the soil could be adequately incorporated into the modelling. Some results relating to this are presented §4.2. Some of the original experimental data used to derive aspects of the model of photolysis are revisited and a simple model of the process presented and shown to fit the data very well §5. By considering photolysis with a constant diffusion coefficient various analytical results are derived and general behaviour of the system outlined. This simple model is then applied to real field-based data and shown to give very good fit when simply extended to account for the moisture variations by utilising moisture dependent diffusion coefficients derived from the existing computational model §5.3. Some consequences of the simple model are then discussed §6

Accounts of women identified as drinking at ‘high risk’ during pregnancy: A meta-ethnography of missing voices

BackgroundDrinking alcohol during pregnancy is associated with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), and women who drink at higher levels are more likely to have a baby with FASD. Public health responses focus on population-level approaches to FASD prevention such as promoting abstinence and alcohol brief interventions. Efforts to better understand and respond to ‘high risk’ drinking during pregnancy have been largely ignored. This meta-ethnography of qualitative research aims to inform this policy and practice agenda.MethodsTen health, social care, and social sciences databases were searched for qualitative studies published since 2000 exploring drinking during pregnancy. Studies that included accounts of women who described themselves, or were diagnosed as, alcohol-dependent during pregnancy, or reported drinking during pregnancy at levels considered by the Word Health Organisation to constitute ‘high risk’ drinking, were eligible. Noblit and Hare's analytic approach to meta-ethnography was used to synthesise the studies and eMERGe reporting guidance was followed.ResultsNine diverse studies were included. All explored the impact of social norms and relationships, women's knowledge about the risks involved in drinking during pregnancy, the behaviour of women, and the advice they received. Three key themes were identified: drinking is social and relational, knowledge is not enough, and multiple adversities matter. Multiple adversities were interconnected and primarily related to structural inequalities and oppression. The complex needs of women and the wider context in which their drinking occurred were rarely explored or responded to during pregnancy.ConclusionThis meta-ethnography provides a more nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics involved in women's ‘high risk’ drinking during pregnancy, the contexts in which they drink and their unmet needs. These findings can inform future policy and practice responses to ‘high risk’ drinking during pregnancy. Further research should explore women's experiences in a UK context and consider how services could meet women's needs

Optimising text messaging to improve adherence to web-based smoking cessation treatment: a randomised control trial protocol

Introduction Millions of smokers use the Internet for smoking cessation assistance each year; however, most smokers engage minimally with even the best designed websites. The ubiquity of mobile devices and their effectiveness in promoting adherence in other areas of health behaviour change make them a promising tool to address adherence in Internet smoking cessation interventions. Text messaging is used by most adults, and messages can proactively encourage use of a web-based intervention. Text messaging can also be integrated with an Internet intervention to facilitate the use of core Internet intervention components. Methods and analysis We identified four aspects of a text message intervention that may enhance its effectiveness in promoting adherence to a web-based smoking cessation programme: personalisation, integration, dynamic tailoring and message intensity. Phase I will use a two-level full factorial design to test the impact of these four experimental features on adherence to a web-based intervention. The primary outcome is a composite metric of adherence that incorporates general utilisation metrics (eg, logins, page views) and specific feature utilisation shown to predict abstinence. Participants will be N=860 adult smokers who register on an established Internet cessation programme and enrol in its text message programme. Phase II will be a two-arm randomised trial to compare the efficacy of the web-based cessation programme alone and in conjunction with the optimised text messaging intervention on 30-day point prevalence abstinence at 9 months. Phase II participants will be N=600 adult smokers who register to use an established Internet cessation programme and enrol in text messaging. Secondary analyses will explore whether adherence mediates the effect of treatment condition on outcome. Ethics and dissemination This protocol was approved by Chesapeake IRB. We will disseminate study results through peer-reviewed manuscripts and conference presentations related to the methods and design, outcomes and exploratory analyses. Trial registration number NCT02585206

Audiovisual Metadata Platform Pilot Development (AMPPD), Final Project Report

This report documents the experience and findings of the Audiovisual Metadata Platform Pilot Development (AMPPD) project, which has worked to enable more efficient generation of metadata to support discovery and use of digitized and born-digital audio and moving image collections. The AMPPD project was carried out by partners Indiana University Libraries, AVP, University of Texas at Austin, and New York Public Library between 2018-2021